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The Dragon

The dragon, a mythological beast, appears frequently in alchemical manuscripts. generally, the dragon is a symbol for philosophical mercury, or the Matter that needs to be transformed in the Great Work. In other words, it is another symbol for your self, or you inner world. because the dragon is an animal, it can also be taken for the lower, animalistic nature of man, furthermore because the dragon is sometimes taken to represent the Earth, that is the body. The dragon needs to be killed, and then signifies the stage of putrefaction. that is, coming into contact with your lower nature and transforming it. The image of the dragon was widely used by alchemist, probably because it represented a wild, untamed animal, and thus comparable with the untamed emotions of a normal person.